Entertainer Jim Stafford to Give Boost to Ritz Theatre Reopening

By TOM PALMERTHE LEDGER

Wednesday

Aug 31, 2011 at 11:55 PMSep 1, 2011 at 1:21 AM

WINTER HAVEN | When the Ritz Theatre reopens this fall, it will be with a boost from some homegrown talent. Musician and humorist Jim Stafford, who grew up in the Winter Haven area, announced plans Wednesday for concerts in December, February and March during a news conference in the lobby of the 1920s-era former movie theater."This is truly good news for Winter Haven," Mayor Jeff Potter said The Ritz Theatre is undergoing the final stage of renovations that have been occurring for more than a decade. The remodeled theater will be able to accommodate concerts, business meetings and social events.Its restoration is considered a key part of the redevelopment of downtown Winter Haven.Stafford, 67, had a number of hit songs, including "Spiders & Snakes" and "My Girl Bill," earlier in his career, but for the past 20 years has been the headliner at his own theater in Branson, Mo.Stafford said the planned shows will bring musicians from Branson, adding that other musicians have expressed interested in scheduling performances here, too.Following the news conference, Stafford and his wife, Annie, explained the decision to play the Ritz came through a serendipitous chain of events.They were looking for a second home in Florida and settled on Winter Haven because they still have friends here.They purchased the home through friends, James and Glenda Pruitt, whose real estate office happens to be across the street from the Ritz, where Stafford went to see movies in his youth.While he was in the Pruitts' office, Stafford said he asked about the Ritz and learned its restoration was nearly complete.That discovery led to a meeting with Stella Heath, acting executive director of Ritz Theatre 100, the group behind the renovation, and the agreement to schedule the concerts.The first concert series titled "Jim Stafford — Home For Christmas" will include a benefit show in which all proceeds will go to the Ritz restoration.Heath said they are still looking for donations to finish paying for the work.A Halloween-themed fundraising gala titled "Twilight at the Ritz" is planned Oct. 28 and will be the first event to occur in the renovated building.Downtown Winter Haven won't be the only beneficiary of Wednesday's announcement.Mark Jackson, Polk's director of tourism and sports marketing, said the addition of a nationally known entertainer such as Stafford will help to diversify Polk's cultural offerings and encourage more tourism."This is extremely valuable," he said. "Tourism is leading us out of the recession."Jackson said the Ritz Theatre fits into a new tourism marketing strategy called "Game Plan For The Arts."Originally built in 1925 as the Williamson Theater, a venue for vaudeville shows, it became The Ritz in 1932 and served as a movie theater and teen night club before closing in the early 1990s.Ritz Theatre 100 purchased the building in 1996.Since then, the group has been raising money for the restoration and completing the work in stages.To date, $1.5 million has been spent to transform The Ritz into a multipurpose facility.Funding has come from a variety of sources: In-kind ­contributions, cash donations, and city, county and state government grants.Architect Terry Hunter, who has been working with Rodda Construction on the renovation, said the work has been challenging because of a combination of some deterioration of parts of the building that occurred over the years and because of the need to update it to meet modern codes, such as handicapped accessibility, heating and air conditioning and lighting.

[ Tom Palmer can be reached at tom.palmer@theledger.com or 863-802-7535. ]

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